Miss Maud (Maths)

 

Miss Maud looks rather Miss Mooney from Grange Hill.

Miss Maud taught Mathematics and came to Tulketh in September 1978. I was at that time in the fourth year and studying Maths at CSE level, class four and it was Miss. Maud’s first teaching post after university with teacher training.

Miss Maud was a tall lady, wore glasses and dressed very conservatively for someone not much older than us. As a class there were very few of us motivated to pass the exams that were in front of us in the spring of 1980.From the very first lesson that Miss Maud taught us we gave her a hard time which looking back on many years later I’m not very proud of. She probably had trouble in controlling a classroom like ours. One afternoon just before the Christmas break, we were all in a holiday mode and not in the mood for learning. Miss Maud was doing her best to get through to us with not much success. Constant disruptions and fooling around by some of us got to the point when Mr. Norris came in from next door to lambast us for the noise and then he spoke with Miss. Maud briefly outside the classroom. It was not long before it started up again this time Miss. Maud clearly had enough of the behaviour and left the classroom rather dramatically which garnered more boorish behaviour from us all. She came back with the deputy Head Mr. Gibbons who was not incredibly happy and kept us all behind at the bell at twenty past three much to the disgust of us all.  

Later when I and Roderick Davies were walking across a deserted schoolyard, we spotted Miss Maud sat in her car in tears. Roderick wanted to go over and apologise but thought better of it in the circumstances. On our next lesson we had to all apologise to Miss. Maud for our behaviour on request from Mr. Gibbons personally. I remember making an apology at the end of the fifth year to her. Miss Maud thanked me but reminded me that she was my Maths teacher and not a friend in a curt manner.

I know I only managed a grade 4 at CSE level in the exams in 1980 and I struggled to achieve that in honesty. Miss Maud, I thought did her best with us and I hope that she went on to have a long career in teaching.

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